I always thought the final season of PERRY MASON was kind of an experimental time, with all sorts of different angles for a whodunit, and some really fun stuff. As usual, a dynamic cast played along and exceptionally well.
As the last reviewer noted, you cannot miss with the likes of Julie Adams in the lead, playing a young woman named Pat who has caught the eye of her wealthy boss, well played by comedian Jesse White. Applause for both of these seasoned actors as they do their very best. Watch their performances.
Here's the nifty catch... A fortune teller(?) enters the picture and fortells DOOM for their marriage. Jessie, a much older man, keels over and is dead --and Pat is the prime suspect. It also doesn't help her case that she's been keeping company with a younger man???
The password is POISON. Lots.... Ford Rainey is right at home as the "dead serious" medical examiner.
Any story with a mysterious fortune teller, a bit of the macabre thrown in, is always an audience pleaser. Credit William Bast, who wrote four episodes for the final season of the series. Bast later wrote one of the best tv movies of the 70s, THE LEGEND OF LIZZIE BORDEN, starring Elizabeth Montgomery. Unforgettable and so creepy. He also produced THE COLBYS tv series, starring Barbara Stanwyck.
By the way, look for veteran Belle Mitchell playing the gypsy. She specialized (in a career going back to silent films) in these types of roles and was great. Belle was in such classic films as THE HOUSE OF FRANKENSTEIN, and in some box office blockbusters, such as FUNNY GIRL, AIRPORT and HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER, later in her career.
Not to be missed, and in glorious, spooky black and white. SEASON 9 CBS remastered dvd box set.